Thesis and Supports

Police presence, more educational institutes and better family life, throughout the past ten years have caused a decrease in the crime rate in the Brownsville community.

1. The police presence have caused a decrease in crime in the Brownsville neighborhood.
   
2. The better educational system in the Brownsville schools is another factor that has caused a decline of the crime rate in the neighborhood.

Interview with Mr. Watson

On the 1^st of October 2007, I Madonna Henry interviewed Mr. Watson. Mr. Watson is a sixty year old man who has lived in the Brownsville community for the last fifteen years of his life. Upon moving to the United States from the Caribbean, Mr. Watson moved into the community where he still resides. He loves the easy access of the readily available transportation (subway and various bus routes) that are nearby. Mr. Watson has a big problem with the crime (shooting) in his community; although crime has decreased, it is still a big problem that the community faces today. The police are now constantly patrolling the area which helps to keep and reduce the crime rate. Unfortunately for Mr. Watson, he had the opportunity to witness a crime; he once saw a man got shot. When asked why he still lived in the community he stated that he loves living there. The only thing that Mr. Watson said that he would change about his community is the living conditions. He wished the rent was cheaper and more affordable. He also feels safe about walking home in the night after a long days work. He takes a route with lots of street lights that is constantly occupied with people. Mr. Watson says that he lives comfortably in Brownsville and would never dream of moving to anywhere else.

Questions

1. How long have you lived in this neighborhood?
   
2. Why did you move into this neighborhood?
   
3. Do you like the neighborhood?
   
4. What is one of the worst things about your neighborhood?
   
5. What was the crime rate like when you moved into the neighborhood?
   
6. How often do you see the police?
   
7. Since living here do you think that the crime rate has decreased?
   
8. Have you or a family member ever witnessed or been a victim of a crime?
   
9. If you were to move out of this neighborhood would the crime rate be a factor?
   
10. If you could, would you change anything about your neighborhood?
    
11. Do you feel safe walking the neighborhood streets at night?

Historical Component 2a

"Candy May Have Killed Him." 26 May 1899. Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Retrieved 30 Sept. 2006
http://eagle.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Search&Key=BEG/1899/05/26/3/Ar00307.xml&CollName=BEG_COL2&DOCID=3691441&Keyword=%28%3Cmany%3E%3Cstem%3EViolence%3Cand%3E%3Cmany%3E%3Cstem%3EBrownsville%29&skin=BE&AppName=2&ViewMode=GIF

When your parents told you never talk to strangers did you listen? Brownville was an area well known for the large number crimes and it was a sure thing that parents would have told their children never to talk to strangers. It was a place where good wholesome families could lose their love ones at anytime. On May 26^th 1899 a ten year old boy by the name of Leon Glassberg was killed by the consumption of poisoned candy. The young boy lived with his parents; his father was a Rabbi who taught Hebrew at his house. Many of the village children would attend the Hebrew lessons. The family was well respected and no one knew why such a tragedy had occurred.

Leon Glassberg consumed a poisoned candy that he got from some Stranger on the street. All night long he cried out for a pain in his stomach. The pain finally subsided at about 3 o' clock. The pain returned shortly after 5, more intense than before. It was not until about 6 o' clock in the morning that the family called a doctor. Sadly enough, it was too little too late, by the time the doctor arrived little Leon had passed on to the other side.

Historical Component 2b

Pritchett, Wendell E. Brownsville, Brooklyn: Blacks, Jews, and the Changing Face of the Ghetto. Chicago: University Chicago Press, 2002. Retrieved 25 Sept. 2007. http://lib.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=0226684466/DBCHAPTER.HTML&client=cunyh&type=xw12

Brownsville was not always known as Brownsville; it was once called New Lots. The land was known as farmland but it also housed the city's largest waste dump as well as industries that supplied stone and other building materials to New York City. Brownsville was a dynamic Jewish community; the common heritage attracted immigrants especially those coming directly from Ellis Island. Brownsville was a vibrant community with communal and religious institutions and opportunities for advancement. It was also a dangerous, dirty slum that was looked down upon by the "better classes" of Brooklyn and the rest of New York City. There were shoddy buildings, bad public services and weak provision for parks and recreation. It was in 1861 that William Suydam, the owner of the New Lots property became bankrupt; it was also in 1861 the real estate speculator Charles Brown purchased the property at foreclosure. Charles Brown renamed the area for what it is known as today; Brownsville.

Between 1900 and 1920 Brownsville boomed, growing from a small hamlet to a teeming ghetto. The population of 37,934 in 1905 doubled to 77,936 five years later. Once dominated by the Jewish population Brownsville began to diversify. People were being attracted to the area, the open spaces and the fresh air it provided. Brownsville was growing into a middle class arena.